Emiel den Exter
European Space Research and Technology Centre, European Space Agency
Papers
11
Total Citations
106
H-Index
5
About
Emiel den Exter is a space robotics researcher whose work sits at the intersection of teleoperation, human-robot interaction, and planetary exploration. His research focuses on developing the technologies and frameworks needed to remotely control robotic systems from orbit, enabling future lunar and planetary surface exploration where full automation remains infeasible. Den Exter's most influential contribution, "Exploring planet geology through force-feedback telemanipulation from orbit" (2022, 45 citations), demonstrated how haptic feedback can meaningfully enhance a remote operator's ability to perform geological tasks on planetary surfaces. This work emerged from his involvement with ESA's landmark ANALOG-1 mission aboard the International Space Station — a milestone experiment that synthesized over a decade of teleoperation research under the METERON program (16 citations). His subsequent contributions have extended these ideas to legged robots, multi-robot collaboration, scalable autonomy frameworks, and intelligent failure recovery, including participation in the DLR-ESA Surface Avatar mission with the humanoid robot Rollin' Justin. Across his growing publication record, den Exter has consistently pushed toward more intuitive, resilient, and adaptable teleoperation systems. His work is increasingly shaping how space agencies envision human-robot partnerships for exploring the Moon and beyond, making him a rising voice in next-generation space exploration robotics.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Exploring planet geology through force-feedback telemanipulation from orbit45 citations · 2022
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- 3Virtual elasto-plastic robot compliance to active environments10 citations · 2025
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